Pinson man charged in Monday robbery

Austin K. Abernathy

Gadsden police charged A 19-year-old Pinson man  Tuesday in connection with the armed robbery of a woman in a Gadsden parking lot on Monday.

Austin K. Abernathy is charged with first-degree robbery and is being held on $75,000 bond in the Etowah County Detention Center.

Abernathy was apprehended a short time after an elderly woman was robbed of her purse at gunpoint outside Red Lobster on Rainbow Drive.

She told police she was standing outside the restaurant about noon when a man walked up to her with a pistol and demanded her purse. When she didn't let go of her purse immediately, the man cursed at her and threatened to kill her. He pulled the purse away and ran south on Rainbow Drive, according to the police report.

Gadsden Police said patrol officers and officers of the Special Projects Team saturated the area and, after a brief chase, took Abernathy into custody in the Fairoaks Drive-Clubview area.